Blogs are an incredibly popular ways to create an online
presence for businesses today; they can be free to set up and you can start
creating content almost immediately.
But, is there any point to having great content if no one is
ever going to read it, so here are ten ideas to bring traffic in to your blog.
Remember that thousands of blogs have failed over the years;
they are like running any type of business in that unless you are willing to
put the time in and treat it seriously, you won’t be blogging long.
Most new bloggers really aren’t prepared for the work that
goes into creating a successful one. Just building the blog doesn’t mean that
people will necessary come to you. You pursue the audience and give them a
reason to see what you have to say.
1. Fresh
Content – Apart from the fact that the major search engines love sites to have
fresh content, no one wants to visit a blog day after day and see the same
posts. You really need to update your blog content at least twice a week. This
will be easier if you write several posts ahead of time and upload them at the
appropriate times – which is what I do.
2. Article
Marketing – whilst traditional article marketing used to help rank your site
better in Google isn’t worthwhile anymore, it is still useful to write some of
your articles so that they can be posted on article directory site to help
bring in more visitors.
3. Social
Networking – these sites are everywhere. Allowing visitors to share your post
via social media (look at addthis.com) and promoting your posts via Tweets etc
is a great viral way to help promote your posts.
4. Viral
Marketing – this is where you spread the word about your blog. Talk to friends,
family and even strangers. Give out business cards that have your blog address
on them. Add it to your email signature,
promote it within forums, talk about it and share it at every opportunity.
5. Use RSS
Feeds – RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Readers can subscribe to
your feed and get email updates when your new content is posted. It is an incredibly
easy way for them to keep up with your blog.
6. Submit Blog
to Search Engines – a lot of people forget to do this, but submitting your blog
to search engine directories will allow it to be ranked in search results. Search
engines don’t necessary need you to do this anymore, but it is worth
doing. Please note that submitting your
blog to search engines doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get a high ranking.
7. Joining
Forums – as a blogger you are a budding entrepreneur. Your main job is to
market yourself and your blog. Become a member of related business forums, work
at home forums and others to meet new people and share ideas. Remember that you
should add a link to your blog in the signature line so others can easily find
you.
8. Visit other
blogs – visit other blogs and leave positive comments; add a link back to your
blog in your comments or there is also usually a “website” field that will link
your name to your blog automatically.
9. SEO Marketing
– whatever you write, use relevant keywords. Ensure that you mention these
keywords enough times throughout your blog posts but not too much; aim for about
a five percent keyword density to help search engine rankings Base your keywords on a research you do to
find the most popular words used in search engines for your niche. If you are unsure about keywords and how to
get them into your content correctly then talk to a copywriter.
10. Social
Bookmarking – submitting your posts to social bookmarking sites allows others
who are members of those sites that don’t know about your blog to visit you.
Using any of these ideas will start the traffic moving in
your direction. It takes time but you will build the readership you want.
